Since 2016, the Doral odor-control hotline has received thousands of complaints from residents who say the smells are so foul, they can't stand to be outside of their homes. The stench drifting from the 170-acre trash mound only worsens after a fresh rain or on particularly hot or windy days.
Residents and activists raised hell last year when they heard that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) planned to issue a permit that would allow Waste Management, the company that operates the landfill, to vertically expand the trash heap, raising the maximum height from 265 feet to 340 feet. The City of Doral filed an appeal with the DEP to block the permit from being issued. But the expansion is moving forward, and advocates and residents continue to fight it.
Last Thursday, the progressive advocacy organization New Florida Majority and the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice sent a letter requesting a meeting with DEP Secretary Noah Valenstein on behalf of residents who are concerned not just by the trash mound's smell, but also by chemical odors they worry could be dangerous for their health.
"Residents have complained of gas and chemical-like smells that indicate the landfill also emits harmful substances," the letter reads. "For example, callers to the odor hotline have described the smell as being 'like acid,' 'like methane or other gases,' like 'paint fumes,' or like 'a heavy chemical...in the air.'"
View of the Medley Landfill, AKA "Mount Trashmore," from the parking lot of the St. Maarten condo complex in Doral.
Photo by Joshua Ceballos
Joanne Pérodin, New Florida Majority's climate-justice program manager, says she's concerned about what chemicals residents might be exposed to because of their proximity to the landfill.
Doral hired an environmental consulting firm last year to test groundwater, surface water, and soil samples at and near the landfill over 33 days. The firm determined the landfill and the nearby Miami-Dade County Resources Recovery Facility, an incinerator that processes thousands of tons of waste a day, are to blame for the smells. The tests detected hydrogen sulfide in the air and sulfide and ammonia in groundwater — but not at excess levels.
Pérodin says the measured levels of hydrogen sulfide, a gas with a telltale rotten-egg smell, are enough to cause eye and skin irritation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Exposure to the gas can irritate the respiratory system and cause nausea, headaches, and delirium, among other symptoms.
"Many Doral residents complain of physical and health symptoms such as asthma and respiratory issues; itchy, watery eyes; headaches; and nausea," the letter to DEP reads.
Pérodin says there are also concerns about what chemicals might be used for odor mitigation and the potential of an increased volume of chemicals used to account for the landfill expansion.
"If you have an existing landfill site that is emitting chemicals that are known to cause harm to human health, elevating this site means you're increasing the concentration of those chemicals being released in the environment," Pérodin explains. "If the proposed solution from this agreement is to use other chemicals to control the odor because you're dealing with a bigger volume of waste, you'll be dumping chemicals on chemicals to control the odors."
Pérodin says New Florida Majority and Earthjustice are asking the DEP to include the community in decision-making, to install more air-quality monitoring stations, and to do more frequent, longer-term air-quality testing in the communities around the landfill to get a more accurate snapshot of chemical presence.
Pérodin says the community's concerns shouldn't be taken lightly.
"Human health should not be put on the backburner," she says. "At the end of the day, it's the health of your residents that is being put on the line."
